Update: Follow-up on local news

From late September 1999 until mid-November 1999, W.M. Jordan Co., the Newport News company that built Gildersleeve and Hines, fixed structural problems at the schools.

The Daily Press had reported in August 1999 that Forrest Coile and Associates of Newport News conducted an inspection of Gildersleeve and Hines and found that the schools' exterior walls would be overstressed in winds of 30 mph, failing to meet construction guidelines.

Repairs were estimated to cost about $264,000. The price tag ended up at $265,789, according to school officials.

W.M. Jordan worked nights and weekends, finishing repairs just before the expected Nov. 13 completion date, said Ken Taylor, executive vice president for W.M. Jordan.

"We put up 12 1/2 tons of structural steel in each school to brace the walls for wind loading," Taylor said. "At this point, there is absolutely no concern with wind loading being a problem at either school."

Wind loading, he said, is the pressure on the walls from the wind blowing.

When school officials learned of the structural problems, they developed a "wind-alert plan." They intended to move students from exterior classrooms and spaces into the safer inner sections of the buildings when winds exceeded 35 mph. And when winds exceeded 45 mph, they planned to evacuate the building. A wind-speed monitor was attached to each school.

The devices are still on the schools, but no longer in use. And neither school had to follow the emergency plan, school officials said.

It was September 1999 when Hurricane Floyd and Tropical Storm Dennis struck the region. But Dennis swept through over a weekend and, for Floyd, area school systems closed.

City school officials called for the inspection of Gildersleeve and Hines after learning that three Williamsburg-James City schools, designed by the same company as those in Newport News, were found to have problems.

Smithey & Boynton, bought out by Roanoke-based Motley & Associates in 1992, designed the schools.

The Williamsburg-James City County School Board recently lost its bid to recover some of the $2.4 million it cost to repair three unsafe schools when the Virginia Supreme Court tossed out the appeal of a lower court's denial of damages against Motley & Associates.

After the inspection in Newport News, the president of W.M. Jordan Co., John Lawson, had vowed to fix anything his company should have done but hadn't. But he said most of the structural problems involved faulty designs.

The company still feels the same, said Ken Taylor, executive vice president of the company.

"We also feel W. M. Jordan, our name, is on the school," Taylor said, "so we were going to do what we had to do to make it right."

THEN AND NOW

Compiled by Amanda Haskins

25 YEARS AGO. Langley Air Force Base previewed the newest fighter in the Air Force inventory, the F-16, in 1975.

The fighter arrived at Langley after a European tour, including an appearance at the Paris Air Show and a visit to Spain.

The F-16, designed to replace the F-104, was small compared to its predecessors but could carry about 15,000 pounds of missiles and bombs strung on its wings. The single-engine, single-person plane was designed for air- to-air and air-to-ground combat.

The F-15 Eagle, a fighter with the same engine as the F-16, was scheduled to be based at Langley the following year.

The United States Air Combat Command is now considering Langley as a prospective base for the F-22 Raptor, the newest combat jet. Langley is one of five sites eager to be the first to exchange F-15C Eagles for F-22 Raptors. The first aircraft is scheduled to arrive at the base in 2004.

10 YEARS AGO. In 1990, church and civic leaders, parents and educators from the East End of Newport News gathered to discuss the state of education in their neighborhoods.

Residents coordinated the informal session after parents with children scheduled for transfer from Hines Middle School to Huntington Middle School called Huntington unsafe and academically inferior.

In 1994, the Daily Press published a special report on the poor condition of Huntington Middle School. A lack of interest and discipline earned Huntington the reputation as the city's most troubled school.

Terry Cline became Huntington's principal in 1994. He is credited for transforming the school by demanding discipline and support from students and staff.

After approximately two years at Huntington, Cline announced plans to take a position with the Charlotte Public School System in North Carolina. He is now principal at Smith Middle School and the Academy of International Languages, a magnet school, in Charlotte.

In Cline's absence, Huntington continues to excel. Last year, the state Department of Education named Huntington one of five Newport News schools showing the greatest improvement on the Standards of Learning tests.